Leon connected himself to one Phoenix Feather Amulet with a drop of his blood, establishing the binding.

BOND! CONNECT!

However, he discovered he wasn't able to connect to both amulets simultaneously—apparently, there was a limitation preventing dual binding.

One active at a time. Fine.

He wore the bound amulet around his neck and kept the second one positioned immediately next to him as backup emergency insurance.

Now I have two lifelines plus a three-second time reversal option if needed.

Confidence surged through him.

I'm as prepared as I can reasonably be.

The nearly-Archon-rank core materialized fully—an enormous sphere approximately two feet in diameter, pulsing with condensed power.

GLOW! PULSE! THRUM!

Leon didn't hesitate any longer. He initiated the absorption process, his mana making contact with the core's surface.

TOUCH! CONNECT! FLOW!

Then, intense, overwhelming energy started flooding violently into his body like a broken dam.

His entire form took on a bright purplish-red-green hue, corresponding directly to the three primary elements the hydra had possessed: poison, fire, and Life.

GLOW! SHIMMER! PULSE!

Leon immediately tried controlling the flow rate at which the energy was entering his body—attempting to moderate and manage the influx.

Slow down! Too fast!

The feeling was euphoric but dangerously intense, with absolutely no sense of naturally slowing or stopping.

RUSH! FLOOD! OVERWHELM!

The first level-up message appeared before his eyes:

[LEVEL UP! You are now Level 20!]

Leon felt the dramatic increase in his overall strength—muscles, bones, mana pathways all simultaneously reinforcing.

Yes! But it's not stopping—

It didn't pause like hitting a barrier. Instead, it continued smoothly, almost like melting through butter.

After only a few seconds without additional messages, another notification appeared:

[LEVEL UP! You are now Level 21!]

Then the messages began bombarding him continuously, the euphoria filling his entire being with overwhelming sensation:

[LEVEL UP! You are now Level 22! [LEVEL UP! You are now Level 23!] [LEVEL UP! You are now Level 24!] [LEVEL UP! You are now Level 25!]

Non-stop advancement.

The level-up notifications weren't the only changes. He was physically feeling his strength exploding exponentially—his stamina capacity, his maximum mana pool, his mental processing speed, and his intelligence stat.

I feel like I can do anything! This power is incredible!

It felt absolutely amazing—addictive, even.

Until suddenly the advancement messages stopped—but the bright multi-colored hue covering his entire body didn't fade.

What? Why did it stop?

His core was still actively absorbing massive amounts of energy. The monster core itself was nowhere near depleted.

Leon felt something building dangerously—not just internally, but externally as well.

RUMBLE! CRACK! DARKEN!

Up in the red sky above him, massive storm clouds were rapidly forming from nothing, crackling with supernatural lightning.

Tribulation. The breakthrough tribulation to the Ascendant rank.

He quickly opened his status screen interface and glanced at his current level.

[Level 30 - Master Rank]

One level away from officially becoming Ascendant. This is the threshold test.

Leon knew instinctively he absolutely couldn't release his Holy energy right now—it would catastrophically interfere with the elemental mana he was currently absorbing.

No idea what would happen if I mixed divine and elemental energy during tribulation. Probably nothing good.

Even so, he could distinctly feel there was at least a twenty-five percent base increase in his fundamental physical strength compared to before this absorption began.

And that's without any enhancement techniques active.

He examined his status screen more carefully. The hollow star symbol representing his stats progression was approximately half-filled now.

Leon prepared himself for the incoming ordeal with absolutely everything available to him:

Every Aura he possessed wrapped defensively around his body in layered shields—Ice Aura, Earth Aura, Wind Aura, and every other Aura he had all at maximum intensity.

LAYER! SHIELD! PROTECT!

Every defensive skill and technique he'd learned deployed simultaneously—barriers, wards, damage reduction passives.

Every physical enhancement he could activate was engaged—toughened skin, reinforced bones, accelerated healing.

Maximum defense. Whatever's coming, I'll endure it.

This preparation wait wasn't long.

CRACK! BOOM! DESCEND!

The first tribulation lightning bolt descended with a resounding, earth-shaking sound, striking directly onto his position with pinpoint accuracy.

STRIKE! IMPACT! PENETRATE!

And this entire dramatic scene was being carefully watched by two powerful individuals hovering distantly up in the sky—Archon Vyrra and Korvek, observing from a safe distance.

Archon Vyrra was smiling gleefully, her expression one of pure delight.

She commented to Korvek beside her:

"Do you still not believe your daughter is extraordinarily lucky to have caught his attention?"

In response, only heavy silence came from the Vice Chief.

He can't deny it anymore, not after witnessing this.

Archon Vyrra continued with genuine excitement, not even looking for Korvek's actual response:

"A new Archon is about to be born! How thrilling!"

----

The lightning landed as if it had completely bypassed and passed through every single defense Leon had carefully prepared—shields, barriers, Auras—all utterly ignored.

PENETRATE! STRIKE! IMPACT!

It connected directly with Leon's actual body.

"Urrrghhh!"

The defensive shields of earth and ice constructs—everything was completely disregarded by the tribulation lightning.

What the hell?! My defenses did absolutely nothing!

The pain was significant but manageable—nothing he fundamentally couldn't endure with his enhanced pain tolerance.

But my defenses not working at all is outrageous! How is anyone supposed to defend against this?!

However, as the initial pain receded, Leon felt profound changes happening throughout his entire being.

Wait. The lightning—while painful—is actually helping me become stronger. Changing me from within at a fundamental level.

This tribulation lightning was fundamentally different from a normal attack. It was painful, yes, but simultaneously beneficial—refining and tempering rather than purely destroying.

It's reconstructing my body. Making it better.

Understanding this mechanism, Leon deliberately removed all his layered defenses—they weren't providing any protection anyway, and this tribulation energy needed direct contact to properly temper him.

No point wasting mana maintaining useless shields.

The second thunderbolt descended directly onto his now-undefended body.

CRACK! STRIKE! BURN!

"Urrrgghhh!"

The pain intensified, but after it passed, he distinctly felt measurable improvement in his fundamental constitution.

Stronger. More refined.

Then the third bolt struck.

BOOM! IMPACT!

Same pattern—intense pain followed by tangible advancement.

But this time, an additional message appeared before him in the form of a golden transparent system screen:

[Do you wish to continue the tribulation to the second stage, or end the advancement here?]

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